This report explores the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Deep-End Initiative, which is helping juvenile justice jurisdictions safely and significantly reduce youth confinement -- especially for young people of color. In America today, youth of color are consistently over-represented in courtrooms and detention centers, youth prisons and other…

Using a stratified random sample and real-time virtual focus group sessions, we evaluated the regional administrative model, addressing personnel supervision, program direction, financial management, and administrative leadership. We concluded that the regional administrative model remains a highly charged topic, there is no common understanding…

States increasingly need a more highly skilled workforce to meet the requirements of businesses, keep up with a rapidly changing economy and accelerate growth that leads to economic opportunity for workers and families. As a result, governors recognize that their role is to bring together education, workforce and economic development as talent…

The success of efforts to improve student outcomes in precollege mathematics at community colleges hinges on engaging and supporting non-tenure-track faculty [NTTF], who comprise a significant proportion of precollege instructional staff. Although research suggests weak departmental support and barriers and constraints to NTTF engagement, no…

Bob Monroig smiles every day on his way to work at Lake Washington Technical College (LWTC), high atop a hill overlooking the affluent Seattle suburb of Kirkland, Washington. He's created his own job within a job, where he's the Harley-Davidson University program coordinator and tenured faculty in the Motorcycle, Marine, & Power Equipment…

Today's nationwide focus on college completion is central to both individual and societal success. For individuals, attaining a credential has become essential to earn a livable wage and support a family. In addition, as each person's educational attainment increases, so does his or her capacity to contribute to the economy, his or her community,…

In 2009, the federal government committed over $3 billion nationwide to help states and districts turn around their worst-performing schools. The U.S. Department of Education intended for the School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to spur dramatic change.This report looks at the results of a field study of the first-year implementation of those grants…

In 2006, six community and technical colleges in Washington State joined the innovative national reform initiative called Achieving the Dream (ATD). This report describes the progress each college made in implementing ATD's "culture of evidence" principles for institutional improvement, examines strategies implemented by the colleges to…

Despite the popularity of performance funding among policymakers and policy advocates, only half of all states have ever created a performance funding system for higher education. State performance funding systems have also been surprisingly unstable. Nearly half of those states that established performance funding systems for higher education…

The Wallingford Wellness Project was a 3-year community-based health promotion program for the independent elderly (persons over 54 years of age) which offered education and behavior change training in physical fitness, stress management, nutrition, and environmental awareness and action. The experimental group (N=90) participated in a pretest,…

This report describes the programs, policies, and strategies developed and implemented by the Tacoma school board in its successful desegregation effort. Particular attention is given to the role that strong school leadership, staff commitment, innovative program planning, and good communication within the community played in helping Tacoma…

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of recent educational reform efforts in Washington State and to determine what educators believe to be the most important future areas of focus. In particular, the researchers wanted to determine whether school-wide improvement efforts (i.e. School Improvement Plans (SIPs), School Improvement…

The state of Washington implemented the Readiness to Learn program as part of the state's Family Policy Initiative. The primary goal of the program is to serve as a formal link between education and human services by authorizing grants to local school-linked, community-based consortia to develop and implement strategies that ensure children arrive…

The National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges' Kellogg Commission notes the perception that "despite the resources and expertise available on our campuses, our institutions are not well organized to bring them to bear on local problems in a coherent way." This article suggests some organizational patterns and…

This report takes a global look at the structural changes taking place in the 72 small schools that were created from 17 comprehensive high schools in Washington State. It also discusses the challenges conversion schools face when they operate with a foot in two worlds -- trying to realize the benefits of small while, in many ways, still operating…